︎















hi.

i’m hankyeol lee.

but you can call me hanky.


i am a south korean / south african multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, based in johannesburg, south africa.

i am fascinated by joints and the poetry of adhesion and cohesion; the way that things connect. in this regard, i believe in art as a collaborative medium - to collaborate spatio-temporally, with different realities - internal and external, with other artists, with the subjects. and so, collaboration and skillshare are essential components of my work as a director, cinematographer, editor, photographer and artist.

as an artist who exists within and navigates the liminal space between identity, race and citizenship, i am particularly intrigued by topics of migration, fractured identity and belonging. more importantly, story and art as a connecting bridge, that touches the internal and external, the liminal and the central, the old and the new.



my filmography includes MILISUTHANDO (2023 - editor and cinematographer), my first feature-length documentary working with first-time director and writer, Milisuthando Bongela, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Festival as a contender in the world cinema documentary category. set in past, present, and future south africa — MILISUTHANDO is an invitation into a poetic, memory-driven exploration of love, intimacy, race, and belonging by Milisuthando Bongela, who grew up during apartheid but didn't know it was happening until it was over.

I WANT TO SEE FOR MYSELF (2019 - editor and cinematographer), a short documentary about the complex legacy of tennis hero, Arthur Ashe, and the tennis centre he erected in soweto, south africa at the height of apartheid.

BROR (2015 - director), a short documentary about two 80-year old brothers, facing life and death together, in the isolated village of porkkala, finland.

i am a graduate of the university of the witwatersrand, and have also lectured cinematography at the wits school of film and tv.